Premier League Dutchmen Abroad Wrapup: Week 12

Match-day 12 of the 2014/15 Premier League saw the least amount of Dutch players take the pitch so far in the season. Just four Newcastle duo Tim Krul & Daryl Janmaat, Manchester United’s Robin van Persie, and Queens Park Rangers’ Leroy Fer represented the Netherlands in the first weekend of matches following the international break.

Saturday was the only day that Dutch players featured this past weekend. Newcastle’s Krul and Janmaat faced off against QPR and Leroy Fer in a tense encounter that saw the Magpies pull off a narrow 1-0 victory to extend their winning streak to six consecutive matches. Daryl Janmaat put in yet another solid performance after a rocky start to the season, and is now showing the form that Newcastle paid his former club Feyenoord for in the summer. A solid attacking threat and consistently successful when tracking back to intercept opposition players, Janmaat’s starting XI place has been all but solidified at this stage in the season. Meanwhile, Tim Krul put together a series of great stops to keep a highly offensive QPR from getting several goals in. Five saves and a commanding presence in the box helped the Oranje #1 claim his fourth straight clean sheet between the sticks for Newcastle. On the other side of the pitch was Leroy Fer, who looked good but not brilliant, and was not able to influence the match in the way he and QPR’s fans would have wanted. Several good chances and solid defensive work were Fer’s main contributions to his team’s play, but even with all his work he was unable to save the Rangers from defeat. Finally, the last Dutchman to play this weekend lined up next to Angel Di Maria as Manchester United travelled to North London to take on Arsenal. Despite his team’s 2-1 victory, van Persie remained nearly anonymous for all 75 of his minutes on the pitch. The forward has been in horrendous form for the Red Devils, and his starting spot would surely have been given to somebody else by now had there been anybody in United’s squad to replace him. Another very poor outing from the man who is apparently the Oranje’s top forward.

The Dutch player’s with the exception of van Persie all put in great performances for their clubs, and despite coming back from internationals did not look particularly fatigued. Hopefully next week will continue in a similar fashion (not for van Persie though of course).